It Begins
Fandom: Winnie the Pooh (Disney)
Ship: Tigger/Rabbit
Word Count: 1,355
Warnings: None
Rabbit sighed as he bent over to pull at the last carrot in his garden. He was trying to get them all in storage before winter was at his door step. It was approaching quite rapidly this year and he didn't want to be caught off guard with an early storm. He managed to unearth the stubborn plant after a little effort and tossed it into the wheel barrow behind him, wiping at his forehead. His age was certainly becoming more noticeable over the past few years. Actually he found himself blaming this on a certain striped creature sometimes whose appearance in the Hundred Acre Woods had caused him a good amount of grief. He wasn't so bad when he'd sit still but all that infernal bouncing around tended to make Rabbit nervous. An accident was inevitable or worse - the pouncing. He cringed at the thought of hitting the floor under the agile creatures weight. Sometimes he thought Tigger was making an honest attempt at breaking his back.
He wiped his hands on his legs and tried to put the young, energetic tiger out of his mind as he pushed the wheel barrow along, towards his front door. He would have to wait until tomorrow to store them because he didn't think he'd have the strength today. He parked the vegetables beside his door and was just reaching for the knob when his large ears picked up a very familiar sound. Ever so faintly, in the distance, a voice echoed across the trees. His ears pricked up as the sound grew ever closer and the thumping sound of a bouncing tail resounded along side it.
"The most wonderful thing about Tiggers, is Tiggers are wonderful things. Their tops are made outta rubber, their bottoms are made outta springs."
Rabbit turned and fumbled with the doorknob only to realize he had somehow locked himself out and as luck would have it he had dropped the key somewhere in the garden. This was a time when pockets would have come in rather handy but fortunately for Rabbit he had an alternative entrance. He scrabbled around to the back but the energetic voice followed him so he was quite certain Tigger had seen him. It would be no use pretending to be gone but he still didn't want to give him the chance to bounce him.
"They're bouncy, trouncy, flouncy, fun, fun, fun, fun, fun but the most wonderful thing about Tiggers is I'm the only one! Iiiii'm the only one!"
Rabbit groaned as he watched his bouncing form appear around the corner. He turned his back to Tigger as he closed in on his target but didn't manage to get in quickly enough. No sooner did he get a foot in the back door than he felt a large amount of weight ram into his back. The two of them rolled down into his home and across the floor, knocking over a chair and table full of odds and ends before finally coming to a stop. Rabbit felt his back hit the wall and when he looked up Tigger's face was directly in his own. In the tumble he'd managed to perch himself upon his stomach as usual. He seemed to have some sort of talent for that as he never missed the oppurtunity to sit on him. Rabbit sighed at the weight but didn't bother trying to get up just yet.
"Hiya, Bunny Boy!" Tigger purred.
"Hello Tigger." he groaned in response, pushing at his chest.
He managed to force him back far enough to get to his feet once again but he had to grab his back for a moment. His age was starting to hinder him and he doubted he would be fairing any better had he never met the rambunctious tiger before him. The aforementioned creature stood up slowly with a worried look on his face so Rabbit released his back quickly. He turned away from Tigger again, pretending to busy himself with the mess he'd made - not even going through the bother of fussing at him. As he was retrieving the knick knacks from the floor an orange paw reached down to grab a few, hurriedly scooping them into his arms. This was the first time he'd seen Tigger make an effort to help clean up any mess he'd ever made and it caused him to pause in his motions. He stood there in slight surprise, loosely hanging on to a book with one hand as he watched him arrange the items back onto the table with care. Rabbit was quite speechless at this new behavior and began to wonder if he had finally hit his head hard enough to affect his striped brain.
"Sorry, Long Ears." he added, guiltily holding up a broken vase with a cringe.
"It's fine, Tigger." he sighed, taking the pieces to throw them away. "I should know better than to own breakables by now."
"Hey, I know what'll cheer you up!" he cried, his care-free self once again. "Let's go for a bounce! Bouncin' makes everything better!"
"No, Tigger. It doesn't." Rabbit grouched, pushing past him. "I'm not done with my garden anyways. I have to get the vegetables stored away before it starts snowing."
"Hey, Tiggers are great at storing vegi-tables. I can help."
"No!" he snapped a little louder than he had meant, turning to face him. "You'll get in my way."
"Oh. I see." Tigger sniffled, wiping an arm across his nose as he turned to leave.
Rabbit knew this trick quite well by now but the sad look on his face was still a little heart breaking to see. The sight of his slumped form as it moved slowly away was enough to make a rabbit cry sometimes. He sighed heavily as he gave in, knowing he would regret it later. Tigger perked up immediately and grabbed his arm, bouncing the brittle old rabbit out into the clean winter air. Rabbit was surprised to find that for the most part he tried to contain himself while he was helping to preserve and store his crop. He even did most of the work which was a very untigger-like thing to do. He decided to have him stay for a snack before he went home as a reward for such helpful behavior. Maybe if he did so Tigger would behave more often when he visited.
The lunch was a quite unexpectantly pleasant one. Tigger never bounced around the room, off the table or even on Rabbit. He didn't knock anything over, break anything or spill his food on the floor. And though Rabbit was happy for the change of pace he found himself growing concerned for his friend. What if something was wrong with him? He had grown docile over emotional troubles once or twice before after all. As Tigger finished off the sandwich which surprisingly still had all its meat he suddenly seemed to perk up. He hopped onto the table at last gave Rabbit a brief hug and bounced out of the room.
"TTFN!" he called out as he exited with a laugh.
Rabbit stood there and stared out the door until his bouncing back had disappeared over the horizon. He slowly walked over and closed it when he was gone. He leaned against it and put his arms around himself as he thought about Tigger's behavior. He had helped clean up a mess he'd made and contained his boundless energy to help him with his crops. He had also been worried about his well-being though he said nothing to Rabbit directly. And then there was the hug. Tigger had always bounced a person as a farewell. Hugs were saved for overly joyous occasions. Something was definitely going on with the young tiger. That was for sure. But Rabbit was having a hard time figuring out what it was. It couldn't be sadness or loneliness because he was still far too chipper for something negative. So if he wasn't upset the only question left was -
"What's got him so happy?" he sighed, pushing away from the door and going about his housework.